


the final turn

by surveycorpsjean



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Getting Together, Multi, Polyamory, Sexual Content, Slice of Life, it takes place after season 2
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-09 23:27:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13492050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/surveycorpsjean/pseuds/surveycorpsjean
Summary: Against all odds, they're still like clockwork.





	1. Chapter 1

He falls in love at fourteen. 

The Wheelers live in a cushy house, on a cushy street, with a nice front lawn and a car that never breaks down. They’ve got a brand new baby, and all moms love babies, especially when they’re little girls with frog cheeks and no hair. Jonathan gets dragged along to give them a casserole – which he doesn’t get why, they all know Mr. Wheeler makes more than enough to cover a meal– but mom says  _it’s the principal of the thing,_ and Jonathan says okay.

He falls in love with their world. A three story house, white –  _real white –_ carpets. A full fridge, leather couches, and a ceiling with, probably, no leaky roof. They look like they eat dinner together every night, as a  _family,_ the kind of family you think of when you read  _American Dream._

But it’s a short lived love. Because Jonathan likes his house, and his family, and there’s nothing wrong with his clothes, or the way he talks, so he grows up and away from envy and love and all the fairytale garbage they feed you as a kid. He falls into a fascination with the real world. Because pictures don’t  _lie._ They don’t give you a gun at twelve and drink under the table and say they care when they don’t and –

Pictures can’t lie, okay.

Maybe that’s why. When Will is gone, and his whole world is falling apart at the seams, it’s just so easy to watch a bunch of drunk assholes throw themselves in a pool. When he starts taking photographs, he can’t stop. Like he’s not a Byers, the family having a public breakdown in front of the whole town. He’s just a dumb kid, like the rest of them.

Jonathan lowers his camera when he sees Nancy Wheeler peel off her shirt, up on the second floor. Steve breaks his camera, and he kind of deserves it. 

Later they’re buying beartraps and slitting their palms, and Jonathan wants to hate her, miss perfect , with the perfect house and the perfect family.

But it’s not really like that. He watches her smudge her makeup with the side of her palm, and tie up her hair with old hairbands she keeps on her wrist. Nancy climbs head first through a portal to hell, and her hands don’t shake when she holds a gun.

He falls in love with her-  _god-_ he falls in love with her. They turn seventeen and she’s still dating Steve – the same Steve that ditched his friends and swung a morning star at a monster -  but they sit together in class and she tells him about Barb and then she  _listens._ Nancy pulls the words out of him, music and books until they know each other so well, Jonathan kisses her, a year later, in front of the rotting guestroom door of some whack-job conspiracy theorist.

~

“I just don’t understand,” Nancy says, hand scrubbing through her hair. She pushes it behind her ears, and lays her head against her textbook. “He’s being so petty.”

“Um.” Jonathan looks over and across the cafeteria, to where Steve is sitting by himself, thumbing half-heartedly through a book. “Not everyone wants to be friends with their ex, Nance.”

Nancy scoffs, “We are  _so_ past that. After everything we’ve been through? He can sit with us at lunch.”

To Jonathan’s surprise, Steve has handled the whole…everything...pretty well. He independently fought a horde of dog demons with a baseball bat,  _and_ managed to keep a group of stupidly ambitious middle schoolers from killing themselves in the line of fire, so, kudos to him. He’s not the same Steve he used to know in middle school. Hell – he’s not even the same guy from a year ago. He let Nancy go with a sad smile and a two-finger wave, and he’s been minding his own business ever since.

“He comes over to my house sometimes,” Nancy says, face still squished in her book. “But it’s just to pick up Dustin.”

Jonathan hums, and turns back to look at Nancy. She’s been sad, lately. But Nancy won’t say it – not to his face, anyways. Nancy always smiles, from Jonathan’s shitty passenger seat, and sings the wrong lyrics loud and proud -  all sugary laughter when they share booze out on his porch swing, and make out on the edge of her roof. But whenever Jonathan sneaks a picture, she’s always looking away, lips set in an almost frown, eyes glazed and, well. Pictures don’t lie.

He doesn’t know how to fix it.

“Do you still have to work today?” Nancy nudges him with her foot from under the table.

“Hm? Yeah,” Jonathan stabs at his lunch, “You can come by if you want, but it’s a late shift.”

“No. I hate your boss.”  

“Come on, Davey is a good guy.”

“He’s so rude! And he always calls you in last minute.”

Jonathan rolls his eyes, “You can’t hate him just because he said something once about your outfit.”

“He said my jacket was  _tacky._ That’s poor customer service.”

Jonathan laughs, and Nancy laughs too. He closes her textbook, because she’s obviously not studying it, “Davey likes me, and he gives me extra hours. I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

“I might come by,” she says, lifting her nose, playfully acting hard to get. “Only because you look cute in the apron.” 

Jonathan pulls a face, and Nancy smiles, turning to pack up the rest of her stuff. The back of Jonathan’s neck starts to tingle, so he can’t resist looking back over to Steve. He’s looking their way – but he quickly turns back to his book, and flips a page.

~

Nancy stops by the diner an hour before his shift ends.

“You’re past curfew,” Jonathan teases, leaning over the counter to peck the corner of her mouth when Davey isn’t looking.

“I told mom I was with you.” Nancy waits for the right moment to smack his butt with the menu when he walks by. Jonathan shoots her a fake scandalized look, and turns to refill a glass of soda for a customer.

“And your mom trusts me?”

“For the lack of a better judgement, yes.”

Jonathan snorts, and sets the pitcher back behind the counter. Her makeup is black beneath her eyes, hair already tied up high on her head, and she changed out of the outfit she wore to school – now in a coat and jeans, and he likes her like this, just as much as he likes the Nancy that wears tall heels and sharp eyeliner.

He’s wiping down the counters, when he sees her stare hazily out the dark windows. There’s the alley across the way – the one where Jonathan broke Steve’s nose and got cuffed against a cop car. Nancy shifts her head into her hand, lips slipping into a frown. Jonathan stares at his hands.

~

Will gets in the passenger seat, just as Jonathan rolls down his window to look the other way. Steve is doing the same thing, except he’s perched on the hood, ragging on Dustin for something – he catches the word  _late_ and  _dickhead –_

Dustin just laughs, and gets into Steve’s car.

“Hi,” Will clicks his seatbelt.

“Hey,” Jonathan turns, and smiles, “How was it?”

“I thought it went well,” Will shrugs. “It was my first time being DM.”

“I can’t wait to hear all about it,” Jonathan grins. He looks back over to Steve, who’s turning the key to his car. Jonathan sticks his arm out the window and waves, and Steve stares back a moment, before he gives a wave back, and starts to pull out of the Wheeler’s driveway.

“Nancy tried to give me money,” Will says, “for the pizza you got us last weekend. I turned it down.”

Jonathan leans over and ruffles his hair, as he starts to back out of the driveway as well.

“Good job, buddy.”

~

It’s too expensive to keep the car running, so there’s a stretching silence. It’s dark, except for a distant street lamp. Nancy has him cornered in the back seat – she’s straddling his lap, a hand gripping the handle above Jonathan’s head, and she’s controlling everything, the pace, the mood – even their breathing. She’s so slick and tight and  _everything,_ everything about Nancy is mind-blowing.

Jonathan loves her hips, jutting bone and soft skin. He grabs onto her, digs his thumbs into the line of her thigh, breath hot against the sticky spot beneath her jaw as she rides him.

Nancy is tense, eyebrows scrunched together, sweat rolling down beneath her neck from setting such a quick pace. Jonathan juts his hips up and she moans, slumping forward to rest her forehead against Jonathan’s shoulder, almost going slack. An intrusive thought crosses his mind – and Jonathan wonders if she was like this with Steve. If she straddled Steve in the back of his Volvo, and grabbed him by the back of his stupid hair.

She’s on edge. He can feel it, in the lines between her shoulders. He kisses her neck, and Nancy rocks onto him. She’s so beautiful, she’s so, so beautiful, and he tells her.

Fingers come up to the back of his head, and hold him still, as she leans around to kiss his lips and say, “I love you.”

She knows he loves her back. Jonathan told her last week, when they had sex against her shower wall. Instead he says,

 “You still love Steve.”

Nancy goes stiff in his arms. Her free hand squeezes tight around the handle of the car, and she lifts her head, to stare straight out the window.

Nancy avoids his eyes. Jonathan’s heart squeezes. It takes her a moment to collect her thoughts.  “Jonathan, I love  _you.”_

He’s still inside her, but Jonathan pulls her close, so tight skin sticks as their chests press together. This is probably the worst time to have this conversation, but it’s too late now. Jonathan noses into her hair and breathes, “But you still love him.”

“I chose,” Nancy says, and her voice is cracking, and Jonathan’s heart is breaking. “I chose! I chose, okay-“

“Nancy-“

“You mean – you mean so much to me, I, Jonathan, I don’t know if I could – if you left-“

“Nancy-“

“I’m so sorry, I try so hard, not to, not to think about him, but my head just-“

Jonathan lets out a breath, and cradles the back of her neck, so when he pushes her down and under him, her head doesn’t smack against the window. It’s a tight squeeze, with not a lot of room to move, so Nancy’s arms are pinned at her sides, eyes wide and beautiful. They shift, and Jonathan rolls his hips once, and they both moan.

“I want you to be happy,” Jonathan finally says, now that they’re nose to nose. The windows are so foggy, he can feel the humidity when he breathes. “I will do  _anything.”_

Nancy makes that look, like she’s mad that she’s about to cry, but she bites down on her cheek in determination, and blinks it away.  She reaches up, to rake her nails down his back.

“I will never cheat on you,” she states,  very stern.

“No,” he kisses her, kisses her so hard, so long he drinks from her, and he loves the way she takes back, pulls on his tongue and whines down his throat. He pops apart, and says,

 “But I could share.”

~

“You wanna’ what?” Steve gawks.

“Go out to lunch?” Jonathan stares back. “What’s the big deal?”

“Uh,” Steve leans up against the wall, “besides the obvious?”

“Nancy has tried to ask you  _three_ times,” Jonathan snaps, and crosses his arms. “Why are you ignoring her? She really wants to hang out with you again.”

Steve slams his locker shut, “And you’re okay with that? I’ve been trying to give you guys space-“

“We don’t want space,” Jonathan steps in front of him, so he won’t run, “We just want to – shit, Steve, it’s just lunch.”

“Oh jee, so you can rub your happiness in my face as you get all cozy with my ex? Thanks but no thanks,” Steve brushes past him. Jonathan grits his teeth, and looks around at the busy hallway. He grabs Steve by the strap of his backpack, and yanks him into a supply closet.

Steve curses as he fumbles into a mop, and the door slams shut. It’s dark, so Jonathan elbows the light on. A bucket falls.

“What the hell dude?!”

“Nancy is sad,” Jonathan shoves his finger at his chest, “and she wants us all to hang out and be friends. This is me agreeing with her.”

Steve gets that smug look on his face, the one where Jonathan isn’t sure if he wants to punch him, or, well. Punch him. 

He straightens his hair, “And this is how you treat all your friends? Great socialization skills pal.”

“We’ve been through too much shit to be fighting like this,” Jonathan jabs, and Steve snaps his mouth shut.

Alright, this isn’t going the way he wanted.

Jonathan sighs, and leans back against the door, putting space between them. “Ever since…with the monster, it’s so fuckin’ hard because hell sits right on top of us and there’s so few of us that know. You can’t ignore us.”

Steve runs his tongue along the back of his teeth, and the defensiveness bleeds out of him. He rubs at his arm and shrugs, “I thought some space would be…easier. For all of us.”

He still loves her. Jonathan knows that look.

“We’re not going to…what did you say? Rub it in your face?”

Steve stares at a spot on the door. There’s a long enough pause for Jonathan to consider giving up. Steve then sighs, “When?”

“Uh, when what?”

“When are we going to lunch?”

~

Steve shows up in a polo, and jeans that don’t match his jacket. He’s got sunglasses pushed up on his head, even though it’s a cloudy day. He shoves his hands in hands in his pockets, along with his keys.

Nancy shifts nervously at Jonathan’s side, but smiles, “Hi Steve.”

“Hey Nance,” Steve nods. “Jonathan.” Silence. None of them move, standing at the front door of the only Italian restaurant in town. Jonathan opens his mouth to say something, but comes up short. A car drives by, and Steve puts on a fake smile, “So...how about that food?”

“Uh yeah-“

“Yes, yes,” Nancy gives a strained look to Jonathan, and starts to walk in, “Let’s uh, go.”

Awkward is a bit of an understatement. Steve sits alone on the other side of the booth, and Nancy slides in next to Jonathan. She immediately starts to fiddle with the ketchup bottle, running her nails along the label.

They get their menus and thank the waitress, and Jonathan buries himself in it.

“So um,” Nancy starts, “how are classes?”

Oh great. Small talk.

“Fine,” Steve shrugs. “You know.”

“Did you ever uh, finish your college applications?”

“Nah,” Steve folds the menu back up, and taps it against the table. “Hopper offered me a job, once I graduate.”

“ _You_ are going to work for Hopper?”

“Jeez Byers, try not to look so surprised.”

“Sorry,” Jonathan shifts. “It’s just-“

“Hopper offered?” Nancy finishes.

“Yeah. I told him I really didn’t want to work for my dad.”

“Right,” Nancy nods. The conversation stops when the waitress comes by to take their orders. Steve gets a soda, and immediately starts stirring his straw in it. There’s another silence, and Jonathan turns back towards the window.

Steve looks like he really doesn’t want to be here, and Jonathan can feel Nancy starting to have doubts about the whole thing. She shifts down a little in the booth, a wrinkle between her eyebrows, and it’s disheartening. The air is tense again.

“I hope they let you use the bat,” Jonathan blurts.

A pause.

Steve blinks, “What?”

“The police,” Jonathan backpedals. “I mean, I wouldn’t mess with a cop holding a ten-point slugger.”

Steve, to his surprise, starts to laugh, leaning back and throwing an arm over the back of the booth. “I think if I keep a good enough rep, Hopper might let me keep it in the trunk.”

“I feel like that’s some kind of violation,” Nancy says.

“Oh please,” Steve rolls his eyes. “Every cop at that station has at least half a dozen marks on their record.”

“No way.”

“Yeah,” Jonathan adds. “Didn’t you hear that Powell got arrested at sixteen for stealing the Grimace statue from the McDonalds upstate?”

Steve breaks into a hard laugh, snapping and then pointing, “Oh my god! I forgot about that!”

“The big purple blob?” Nancy gasps.

“Yeah!”

“They had a  _statue?!”_

Jonathan smiles, and Steve nods again, saying “Yep! Arguably the best McDonald's mascot.”

“You are obviously forgetting the superior Hamburglar,” Nancy sips.

“Are you kidding? The Hamburglar is just some greasy ginger in a mask.”

“He adds  _plot_ to the McDonalds lore,” Nancy argues, and Jonathan starts to laugh behind his drink. “Without him, the clown guy would just be – the clown guy.”

Steve sputters, “The clow- did you just forget Ronald McDonald’s name?”

“Whatever! The Hamburglar is better, end of discussion.”

“I’d like to interject,” Jonathan chews on his straw. “You’re both forgetting Mayor McCheese.”

Both Nancy and Steve turn to look at him.

“You just made that up,” Steve deadpans.

“No I didn’t.”

“That’s not real.”

“I just saw the commerical last week. He has a burger-head.”

“I don’t believe you,” Nancy states.

“Are we really arguing over this right now?”

_ “Yes!”  _ Nancy and Steve yell together, before they turn to look at the other, and break out laughing. Steve is looking at Nancy like her laugh is the  _world –_ and Jonathan understands. He really does.

Nancy and Steve are talking about something else now, and they’re both leaning a little up and over the table to hear the other over the music. Watching her smile – something loosens in Jonathan’s chest. Enough that he can relax in the booth, and secretly rest a hand on her inner thigh.

~

“No you didn’t.”

“I did!”

“But he kicked your ass _.”_

“That is – that is arguable.”

“So you’re expecting me to believe that you told ‘King Billy’ to  _fuck off?”_ Nancy snorts.

“It might have – it might’ve been a bit nicer than that.” Steve mumbles, and then rubs his arm when Nancy pushes him. “Is he really called King Billy now?”

“No,” Jonathan says, as Nancy says  _“Yes.”_

He feels soft fingers brush against his, and Jonathan briefly takes her hand and squeezes it.

This is going a lot better than expected. They finished eating an hour ago, and they now walk to burn off the disgusting amount of pasta the three of them consumed. They left the cars in the parking lot, and meander along the sidewalk, down towards the opening of the woods. It’s still a little cloudy, but as the sun lowers, sometimes it shines through. He regrets leaving his camera behind. There’s shadows along the pavement that would look cool on film.

It was kinda’ tense at first. But back at the restaurant, there was some...some kind of click. The first turn of a cog. The tight, awkward mood around them sunk through the ground, and now it feels bright and airy, and Nancy looks light on her feet.

They end up at a park. It’s dead today, probably because it rained earlier, so the equipment is a little wet. Nancy uses her sleeve to wipe off one of the swings, and she takes a seat. Steve copies her, and Jonathan leans up against one of the poles.

“Push me?” Nancy tries.

Jonathan lifts his eyebrows, but leans around to gently push her anyways.

“Wow, the princess can’t even swing herself,” Steve teases.

“No,” She holds on, and grins when Jonathan pushes her a little higher, “I just have people to do that for me.”

Jonathan snorts, and leans aside to let her do the rest. She’s already got the momentum going, so she kicks out her feet, and gives a cute  _wheee._

Steve swivels back and forth, but he doesn’t look upset. He’s watching Nancy, a resting smile at the corner of his mouth, and Jonathan should be upset – knowing another guy is looking at his girlfriend like that – but he’s relieved instead. It’s weird.

Steve pulls out a cigarette and a lighter, “Hey Nance.”

Nancy slows down her swinging to ask, “Yeah?”

“Do you remember that band you got me into?”

“Uh- the one that Jonathan got  _me_ into?”

“Joy Division?” Jonathan asks.

“Yeah,” they say together. Steve continues as he smokes, “Did you know they’re coming to the U.S.?”

“Really?” Jonathan stands up straighter.

“Not to Indiana I assume?”

“New York I think. I only know ‘cause my uncle rents out venues or something. I’ve been wanting to tell you –“ he looks up to Jonathan, “- or uh, both of you? Wow, I didn’t know it was Jonathan that introduced you to them.”

“Are you kidding?” Nancy grins, “He’s always giving me new stuff to listen to,” She winks, “Sometimes his taste is iffy-“

“Hey-“

“But he’s got a great library back at his house.”

Jonathan rolls his eyes, and Nancy swings to a stop, so she can reach over and pat his hip.

“I should’ve known it was always you,” Steve says to Jonathan, and he knows he's talking about the music, but it almost sounds sadder than that. Nancy twists uncomfortably in the swing, and Jonathan looks away, towards the woods. There’s some birds nesting up in the trees – and they’re the annoying ones, that swoop down at you and harass your cats.

“I want to tell him,” Nancy blurts, jerking Jonathan out of his thoughts. Steve perks up.

“What?”

“Uh,” Jonathan chews on his lip. He tries not to appear anxious, so he shrugs. “Er – if you want to.”

“Are you okay?” Steve starts to stand up.

“You actually might want to sit back down,” Jonathan says.

“I love you,” Nancy says easily, and Steve nearly slips trying to sit back in the swing. His cigarette falls to the ground. Jonathan double checks the park that it’s empty, before he looks back to Steve’s dumbfounded face. He, surprisingly, is gaping right at Jonathan, like he’s expecting to get decked.   _“Hey-“_ Nancy jabs at his arm, determined to get his attention back.

He blinks numbly, “What?”

“You were never a shitty boyfriend,” Nancy says, and Jonathan can tell she’s trying not to look nervous. “So much happened – you know it, a lot of the fault fell on me. I was so confused, because – Jonathan, I-“

Steve’s face hardens, “If this is a joke…”

“I had to choose,” Nancy says quickly. “I had to choose, and I didn’t want to, and I loved you –  _love_  you-“

Jonathan interjects, because he sees her starting to get flustered, “We’ve been talking about this for a while. You obviously still care about her-“ Steve recoils, but Jonathan continues, “I think Nancy has a big enough heart for two people.”

“It’s not fair,” Nancy adds, grip hard around the swing. “Boys date different girls all the time.”

Steve stands, slowly, and Jonathan tenses. Steve turns away, wiping his face, before he leans up against the opposite bar of the swing. “You’re saying you want to date both of us.”

“Yes.”

Steve looks at Jonathan, “And you’re okay with this?”

Jonathan shrugs, “I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.” He digs his shoe into the dirt, and forces himself to make eye contact with Steve, “I watched a demon exorcise itself out of my brother. Things could be worse.”

Nancy stands too, and the swing creaks. “Steve – we, we don’t know when that portal is going to open up again. Hopper says it won’t – but we all know that’s a lie, right? I don’t - I don’t know if we’ll all survive whatever happens next.”

“Nancy-“

“I’m just tired,” she says, shoulders slumping. “I’m tired of making choices.”  Jonathan wants to comfort her, but he keeps himself where he is. She needs to do this.

Steve swallows a lump in his throat, and he’s looking at Nancy. Just Nancy. The sun goes behind the clouds, and Jonathan grips the pole to keep himself grounded.

“Can I kiss you?” Steve asks, but now he’s looking at Jonathan, asking  _him_ for permission.

It startles him. But Jonathan blinks it away, and jabs his chin towards Nancy, “Don’t ask me.”

Steve turns back to Nancy. Sweet, fiery little Nancy, who has her feet planted and her shoulders squared.

“Can I-“

She grabs him by the neck and kisses him, leaning up on her toes to cross the distance. Jonathan tightens his grip on the pole, and makes himself watch. There’s a pit in his stomach –

But Steve’s arms circle around her and Nancy laughs against his lips, kissing him on instinct, on a memory. Steve puts his all, his entire heart and soul into it, he kisses her like the movies, where they sweep the girls off their feet and into a whole other world. That weight;  the nerves in Nancy’s back, the stress in her hands, she lets go into him, and Steve holds her like he needs her. 

Jonathan isn’t sure what he’s feeling. But he’s not jealous. Because he knows what Nancy looks like wearing his shirt, sleepy and soft after sex, hair a frizzled mess, lips red and bitten. He knows what she looks like when she’s stressed, when she’s excited, when she’s in love.

But Steve knows all that too, doesn’t he?

Nancy pulls away from the kiss, and she’s all smiles. She immediately turns on her heel and runs into Jonathan’s arms, burying her smile into his neck.

Steve gives him an amazed look, and Jonathan mimics it over Nancy’s shoulder, as he squeezes her back. Steve’s face lightens a little, and he rubs a hand down his neck.

“Well. It’s not the weirdest thing I’ve done.”

~

_ “Thank you, thank you, thank you,”  _ she kisses him, later on her doorstep, alone except for the woods behind them. 

It was easier than he thought it would be.

Jonathan doesn’t tell her that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is...a thing. idk i like them


	2. Chapter 2

 It’s not to say Nancy changes; but she kind of does.

“I feel ten pounds lighter,” she says, laying back on her bed, surrounded by textbooks. “Like someone’s stopped squeezing my heart.”

And Jonathan is happy for her. He feels better too – like he’s not about to lose everything. Like she won’t suddenly walk out of his life, because he’s not enough. 

The line is so defined in the sand, the spaces in this weird relationship they’re trying. It requires an extreme amount of understanding between Jonathan and Steve – and they’ve butt heads a few times – but it’s going…better than expected. There’s a phrase you’ll hear alot.

At first, he doesn’t know how Nancy is going to divide her attention between them; but she does it like anything else. Effortless, with finesse and bullheaded determination. She’ll kiss Steve at his car, and stop by the darkroom to make out with Jonathan against the table. She juggles life the way she always has.

He's amazed at her grit to make this work. 

They all eat lunch together. There’s a universal understanding to be...civil. It’s different. Strange, at first, because Jonathan is now eating a sandwich next to the guy who is also sleeping with his girlfriend; but they fall into a rhythm. Like at that restaurant. Another click.  And it just seems to work.

They get stares, so they start eating out on the car hoods. It’s good weather near the end of the school year, and Jonathan now brings his stereo in the trunk, so they have something to listen to while Steve tries to shoot old cafeteria hash-browns into a water bottle.   

Weird looks are old news and rumors are boring. Who cares.

Jonathan usually gets to school fifteen minutes early to scrub whatever insults are spray-painted on Nancy’s locker. One day he gets there, to see Nancy  _twenty_ minutes early, doing the exact same thing at Jonathan’s.

Steve’s locker is usually left clean, but Jonathan suspects that has something to do with whatever weird truce he has with Billy Hargrove. Apparently, no one is willing to fuck with anyone even remotely associated to Hargrove, good or bad. Not that he’s worried about Steve, or anything.

Jonathan gets home to his mom nervously sitting at the kitchen table, drumming her fingers against a stack of bills.

He pauses, slipping his backpack off his shoulder, “Hey?”

She jumps, and then smiles, skidding to her feet, “Jonathan!”

“Um,” he sets his bag on a kitchen chair, “Everything alright?”

“Yes!” She squeezes his shoulder, “Yes of course – are you hungry? I’ll heat up some leftovers-“

“I actually just ate,” Jonathan sits, “you know. At the diner.”

Mom pauses, mid opening the fridge. “Oh, right– okay.”

“Sorry I didn’t come home after school. I just went right to work.”

“No worries sweetie,” she waves, and sits back down at the table. “I um. There was something I wanted to talk to you about.”

Jonathan immediately looks over to Will, who’s sitting in front of the T.V., scribbling something in a notebook. He’s okay. He’s safe.

“Yeah?”

Mom lowers her voice, “I…I saw Nancy with Steve when I stopped by the theater.”

“Oh?” Jonathan starts to fiddle with his backpack. “You got the Monday tickets, right? I’m still off that day.”

“Huh?” His mom blinks. “Yes, but- Nancy and Steve…are they…friends again?”

Lightbulb. Jonathan scrambles, “Oh – no no, they’re well,  _yes –_ but they’re dating again.”

Mom’s face crumbles, “Oh honey, I’m so sorry-“

“We didn’t break up.”

Mom looks dumbfounded. Jonathan stands up to go grab a glass of water, smiling, “We’re both dating Nancy.”

She sits back in the chair and blinks. “Oh.”

“It’s weird, I know.”

“No, no,” Mom waves her hand, and she lights a cigarette at the table, “So long as everything is okay.”

“Nancy is really happy.”

“Are  _you_ happy?”

He thinks about it for a moment. “Probably.”

“Are you…also dating Steve?”

Jonathan almost drops his cup in the sink, “What?? No-“

“Okay,” she chirps, and starts to smoke, ending the conversation there. Jonathan blinks down at the cup in his hand.

 

~

 

“Name three igneous rocks.”

“Basalt, diorite,” she lists on her fingers, “uhh.. _granite,_ duh.”

“You got it.”

Nancy rolls over to her stomach, tucking the textbook up so Jonathan can’t see it.

“At what temperature does igneous rock melt?”

“Oh shit- that’s on the test?”

“Nope, but I’m keeping you on your toes.”

“A thousand degrees,” Jonathan guesses, trying to pull down the book and see.

“Aww, so close,” Nancy pouts. “1,100 to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit.”  

She plops the book down, and they’re close now, so Jonathan pecks the side of her mouth, and looks down at the book, “Define foliated rocks.”

“Oh, those are the ones that have the lines-“

The doorbell rings, and Nancy pauses, blinking.

“Mormons?” Jonathan tries.

“Oh f-“ Nancy scrambles to sit up. “I totally forgot that I invited Steve over too – he had to repeat this class because he failed it last year – I’m so sorry.”

Jonathan rolls over and shrugs, “It’s fine.”

“Really, today was supposed to be you and me, if you want I can send him home-“

“Nance,” Jonathan reaches over the squeeze her knee, “I’m pretty sure we can be in the same room.”

“Right,” Nancy blinks, and jumps towards the door, “Be right back!”

Jonathan skims back over the textbook. He hears the door open and close, and then mumbling, and footsteps up the stairs.

The bedroom door creaks, and Steve peeks through, Nancy’s arm around his waist. He’s wearing a baseball cap, and as usual, a brightly colored t-shirt. “Hey man.”

“Hey,” Jonathan scoots, and they both crawl on the end of the bed.

Steve peeks at the open page, “Rocks, huh?”

“That’s what the Friday test is on,” Nancy says. “Is your class doing the same thing?”

“We started with the volcanoes and the uh...technical plate things,” Steve unzips his bag, and pulls out the same textbook. “I think we’re like, a week behind.”

“This is perfect then!” Nancy folds her feet under her, and adorably rocks her way over to Jonathan's side, “You’ll be double prepared for next week.”

“I think we should go over tectonic plates first,” Jonathan mumbles, and Nancy laughs behind her hand.

“Please do,” Steve begs. “I fell asleep during Blackwell’s lecture.”

“Oh god, you have  _Blackwell?”_

“I’m so sorry.”

Steve sighs, “They told me he was easier than Mrs. Hahn.”

Nancy says, “Oh, he is.”

“But he’s a wet blanket,” Jonathan finishes.

“Yeah...mistakes were made.”

“Well you’re in luck. Nance is great at science.”

“She’s good at everything,” Steve says with an eyeroll, and Jonathan makes an affirming noise. She hits him lightly on the shoulder, but starts to review last weeks material.

Jonathan mostly listens. Nancy is a good teacher. Well, she’s very impatient, which means she repeats herself multiple times, and Steve nods along. Jonathan isn’t sure if he’s actually processing any of it, or if he just likes the sound of Nancy’s voice. Jonathan doesn’t blame him either way.

Jonathan adds something every now and then, mostly when Nancy asks him to. At one point, Nancy climbs into his lap all together –  _for not paying attention –_ and Jonathan watches Steve’s face, curious. Steve doesn’t seem upset; not that he’d expect him to be, it's been a good seven…eight weeks since they started this thing. Still, Steve just leans in and listens, and Nancy occasionally pulls the textbook away to quiz him. 

Eventually, Steve stretches and pops his back, “Fuck. No offense Nance, but it’s been like, an hour.”

“Do you want a break?”

“He can’t even study for more than an hour,” Jonathan tsks. “Weak, young padawan.”

“Excuse  _you,”_ Steve points. “I am at least a Jedi-Knight.”

Nancy sighs, “Oh here we go.”

“Please, like you could abide by the law of the Jedi.”

Steve huffs, but doesn’t reply because Jonathan is right. Instead he crosses his arms and says, “Alright. How about we make this interesting?”

Jonathan rests his chin on Nancy’s shoulder, “How so?”

“Strip-studying. One article of clothing removed per wrong answer.”

“How is that interesting? You’re the only one that would be naked.”

_“Hey-“_

Nancy slides out of Jonathan’s lap and laughs, “Be nice.”

“You’re actually going to play along?” Jonathan asks her.

Steve wiggles his eyebrows, “She has before.”

Jonathan shoots him a flat look.

“Why not?” Nancy shrugs. “My parents won’t be home for a few more hours.” She laughs at the stare Jonathan is giving her, “Come on, it’s not like I’ll be undressing.”

“Wow, you two think I’m real fuckin’ stupid, don’t ya’?” Steve flips his baseball cap backwards. “Alright, it’s on. Jonathan, you in or not?”

He breathes out a deep, dramatic sigh, and leans up against the headboard.

“Fine.”

 

~

 

It’s his turn to ask the question. Jonathan holds the book in his lap, up and away so the other two can’t see. He’s down two socks and a top flannel. Steve is already shirtless – and Nancy hasn’t lost anything yet.

“Steve.  _What forms the_   _relatively cool, brittle plates of plate tectonics?”_

“You’re asking hard questions on purpose!” Steve points.

“That was literally on our test last week.”

“Uh, fuck fuck fuck,” Steve rubs his forehead. “It was a sphere. At…Atmosphere…”

“You’re close, if it’s any consolation,” Nancy says.

“Uh uh-  Astrosphere?”

“Nope,” Jonathan turns book around, “Lithosphere.”

“God dammit.”

“Pants~” Nancy sings. “Hand ‘em over.”

“I listened to you talk about this shit for an hour,” Steve pouts, standing up to shimmy out of his jeans. “I swear, I’ve retained  _some_ of it.”

Jonathan bites back an insult. Steve turns to toss his jeans over to Nancy, who half-folds them and sets them with the rest of his clothes. Steve crawls back on the bed, and Jonathan catches a glimpse at how many beauty marks are littered down his back. He’s seen him running around on the skins basketball team, so he’s not really surprised at the soft muscle he has. Jonathan glances at his boxers.

“Pink panther. Tasteful.”

“I don’t wanna’ hear it,” Steve yanks the book from him. “Nancy, it’s your turn.”

“Hit me.”

Steve takes a moment to skim the book.

“Find a hard one,” Jonathan says.

“Oh I got it,” Steve clears his throat.  _“The appearance of the most complex organisms occurred during which era?”_

Nancy opens her mouth, and then pauses. Jonathan immediately sits up.

“She doesn’t know it.”

“Give me a second!”

“She doesn’t know it!” Steve repeats.

“Hold on!” Nancy yells, but she’s laughing. “Uh, uh. Mesozoic?”

Steve makes a loud buzzer noise, and Nancy hangs her head in her hands.

“Paleozoic!”

Jonathan grins, “You got her.”

Steve turns and lifts his hand, and fuck it – Jonathan high fives him.

 “Alright babe,” Steve gestures, “Somethings gotta’ go.”

She’s not wearing socks or a jacket, so she sighs, and lifts up her blouse. She’s in a grey bra, the one that Jonathan can never fucking get off. He doesn’t mean to stare, but Nancy pulls her hair back, and she’s just so beautiful. He wants to take a picture of just the spot where her neck meets her shoulder.

“Alright, now we’re getting somewhere,” Steve hands the book to Nancy. “Let’s see if we can get Jonathan to join the shirtless club.”

“Already on it.”

“Hey – I thought we had a truce going on?”

“Truce broken. Go on Nance.”

Nancy lifts the book dramatically high, so there’s no way Jonathan could see, “How do the electrons behave in mineral metallic bonding?”

Jonathan huffs, “You’re the worst.”

“Hehe,” she grins, and turns to Steve. “He skipped class the day we went over this.”

“Nice one!” Steve high-fives her. Jonathan gives a mocking look of betrayal, and reaches over the back of his neck to pop off his t-shirt. He tosses it in the pile. 

“There. Happy?”

A chorus,  _“Yes.”_

 

~

 

When the front door opens downstairs, they scramble to put their clothes back on. It leaves Jonathan feeling flustered, like something worse happened between them. He watches Steve yank up his jeans, and Nancy slide her skirt back on, and there’s a hot, blistering feeling that sinks in his gut.

 

~

 

That line in the sand isn't so defined anymore. The line that says Steve sits here and Jonathan sits there, and they never cross paths. The line that says the three of them can't hang out together after school. The line that says a real man doesn’t share. Why is life full of lines anyways? On film it's all shades, a million different versions of a limitless amount of color. 

They study together, and go to the quarry to toss stones, and fuck out of town when the cabin fever gets too bad. Steve comes by with Nancy sometimes, to sit at the counter and order milkshakes while he works. Nancy and Jonathan tag team on prepping Steve for his next geology quiz, and he passes with a solid B. 

To Jonathan's surprise, he's at the point where he considers Steve a friend.  

He's not even mad, when he's got his head between Nancy's legs, and Nancy whines Steve's name instead of his. Jonathan just laughs, and bites her thigh to remind her who she's dealing with - and she gives a thousand apologies, but Jonathan just asks, "So who's better?" 

"Don't do that to me," she hisses, knee coming up to bracket next to Jonathan's ear - so Jonathan shrugs and moves on. 

He doesn't mind as much as he should. But - Steve has worked really hard to prove that he's an okay guy, and Jonathan will probably regret saying this, but he trusts him. Not that Nancy can't handle herself, but Steve takes really good care of her, and it's...it's nice to know that someone out there appreciates Nancy as much as he does. 

 

It’s been a long week. They've got a schedule full of study guides for finals, and Jonathan has worked closing shifts almost every night. 

He comes up to Nancy after class on Friday and says, "Hey, I have tonight off if you want to do something." 

She closes her locker and frowns, "Steve and I were going to a movie." 

"Oh, that's okay-" 

"You should come!" She says quickly. Jonathan gives her a look like  _really?_ And she nods, "Steve totally won't mind." 

That's weird, right? He's encroaching on a date - with his own girlfriend? Is that even third wheeling? A double date? 

But he goes, and nobody dies. Nothing explodes (except for Rambo, wow those are some bad effects), and the world doesn't end. Nancy sits in the middle and Steve throws popcorn at the kids talking nonstop in the front row. 

Nancy leans over the armrest halfway through, fingers coming up behind Jonathan's head, and they miss a solid part of the movie making out. There's that churn in his gut, like they're doing something they shouldn't, because this was technically her date with  _Steve -_ and here's Nancy, sticking her tongue behind Jonathan's teeth. Jonathan pulls away, surprised when she suddenly jumps, and whines. He skims his lips to her neck, and looks over to see that Steve is still watching the movie, but has a hand up her skirt. 

Oh god. Jonathan's stomach flips completely. Oh god oh god, this is kinda' hot. Why is this so hot? 

He kisses her again, faster this time, and Nancy breathes hard, squirming when Steve's hand creeps higher. Jonathan can't see in the dark, but shit - he really wants to watch. He wants to see Steve tear off her skirt completely. Wants to watch Steve go to town while he kisses Nancy stupid. 

Anyways, that night has Jonathan royally fucked up, thanks. He thinks about it for the next four showers. 

 

~

 

"So uh, you take pictures with that camera?" 

Jonathan looks up, from where he has one hand spooning soup in his mouth, and the other fiddling with his Pentax. 

"Uh...yes?" 

"Cool, cool," Steve nods, and pokes into his cafeteria pizza with a fork. 

Nancy has gone off with her study-group to prepare for her next final. It's just them, and it's not really awkward - well, not usually, but Steve seems to be trying his hardest to make it that way. Steve keeps eying his camera, and Jonathan has an  _ah-ha_ moment. 

"It's a great camera," Jonathan states. "Way better than my old one." 

Steve smiles, "Really?" 

"Yea- uh, yeap." He picks it up and takes a picture of Steve with a forkful of pizza, just for show, "Takes a clearer picture." 

"Byers!" Steve chews, "I wasn't ready!" 

"You deserve it, who the hell eats pizza like that?" 

Steve squishes the crust of the pizza, and it oozes some kind of liquid, "Would you touch this with your bare hands?"  

Jonathan opens his mouth, closes it, and then opens it again to say, "Point made." 

Steve laughs, and makes grabby hands to look the camera over. He asks a few questions, says he grew up holding a football rather than a camera, but Jonathan finds himself thinking it's a little cute anyways. 

 

~

 

He has a Saturday off, and spends it running errands for his mom. She works and she works, shoulders sore from running a check-stand, fingers stained blue from repainting the bad spots on the wall. She's always got a cigarette between those fingers, and a tired smile on her face, so it's the least Jonathan can do, to pick up milk and eggs and propane, for the grill. 

When he gets back home, he apparently has three missed calls from Nancy. He already knows what about. 

 Steve's graduation is around the corner. Nancy keeps begging him to go, and Jonathan would really rather eat his foot whole. That's a girlfriend thing, going to someone else's graduation- but Nancy is very persuasive, showing up at his door the next day.

So Jonathan goes with her, and hides the lipstick on his neck with a high collar. 

It's so fucking boring. Jonathan doesn't even want to go to his  _own_ graduation; but Owen Brown trips going up the stairs, and yanks out the microphone cord, almost setting the stage on fire, so, that was entertaining. 

When Steve walks, Nancy stands up and cheers. She's proud of him, dressed all cute in a new dress she bought just for today. Steve grins and waves back, utterly shameless, and Jonathan slouches into the chair.

It takes him a moment to realize that it was  _just_ Nancy cheering. He looks around, but he doesn't see Steve's parents. Jonathan's heart sinks a little, and he looks back up to Steve as he gets his diploma, and shakes the mayor's hand. Jonathan decides to check his attitude, and by the time it ends, he smiles as Nancy runs up to Steve, and jumps into his arms. 

Jonathan snaps a picture, and then another one, when Steve picks her up and spins her around. 

"Say cheese," Jonathan says. 

"Mozarella!" Steve waves, and Jonathan's shutter snaps. 

Nancy takes the diploma out of his hand and looks it over, "Aw, they spelled your name wrong." 

"Oh my god -  _what?-"_

"Just kidding," she smiles, and Steve sarcastically laughs, lightly pushing at her shoulder. 

"You suck." He loosens his tie, "But thanks for coming. Both of you." 

"The kids really wanted to be here," Jonathan says. "We had to promise them they could come to lunch." 

"Oh shit, are we getting food?" 

"We told you this a week ago!" 

"I forgot!" 

They start walking to the cars. Steve tucks an arm around Nancy's waist, and Jonathan decides to walk on his other side. He feels like he should say something, so he nudges Steve in the side and says, "Hey. Congrats." 

Steve looks surprised, but he smiles all bright and cheerful, and throws an arm around Jonathan's shoulder. Nancy gives him a happy look that he doesn't know what to make of. 

 

~

 

It takes almost an hour to drop everyone off after lunch. The kids, very illegally, pile into the back seat of Steve's car. Will is the only one Jonathan forces to wear a seatbelt. Nancy sits between Jonathan's legs up front, and Steve says  _if we die, I'm blaming all of you -_ and then proceeds to drive ten miles over the speed limit.

Jonathan blasts the music and the kids roll down the windows - they drop off Max, and Lucas, and then Mike and Nancy. She kisses both Steve and Jonathan goodnight, and then drags her brother out of the car by his ear. Dustin goes last, before they pull up to the Byers home. 

"Hey, go on in bud," Jonathan says softly. Will nods, climbing out of the back seat and pulling out his house key. The radio is turned down now, and Steve's car idles in the driveway. The front door opens and shuts as Will disappears. 

"Umm," Jonathan starts, "Sorry you had to drive everyone home." 

Steve shrugs, "Sorry you had to sit through my graduation." 

"No - I had fun." 

He snorts, "Don't pretend. I don't need you to feel bad for me." 

"Right," Jonathan nods. There's a pause, where Jonathan feels like he needs to say something else. Steve is looking at him, hands loose on the wheel, button-down half-way undone, and pushed up to his elbows. 

Say anything. Congratulations. Good luck with Hopper. Have a good summer. Thanks for being so cool about this thing with Nancy. Thanks for being a good friend. 

"I did actually have fun," he settles on. 

Steve blinks. He shifts in the seat, almost closer, and Jonathan isn't sure why his heart rate suddenly spikes. He doesn't put two and two together, doesn't realize that it feels like the end of a date. Like this is the time he'd kiss Nancy goodbye. 

But he already did that. 

"You’re not so bad," Jonathan blurts, and jumps out of the car before Steve can say anything. 

 

~

 

It’s summer now.

They're out of school, and Jonathan's can work for a bit more cash - but Steve isn't applying at the station until August, so they have  _three months_ to do whatever they want. Mom usually organizes some kind of road trip up north, somewhere cheap, like a day at the lake, but with the incident last October, they're probably not leaving the state this year. 

"Just enjoy your break," Mom says, while scrambling to find her keys. "Go be - go be a kid or something -"

But Jonathan doesn't mind holing up in his room with a book. He's got too many (but not enough) albums to sort, and he's working his way through Steinbeck's least depressing novels. 

Unfortunately, he's friends with two extroverts that like to go out and do life things. Jonathan is at least allowed to bring his camera, so he doesn't mind too much, (he is however, missing the school's darkroom, and there's no way he's paying some schmuck at a grocery store to touch his film). Anyways, Steve's parents are on a cruise or something, so his house becomes the universal hub for hanging out - and he says hanging out lightly. 

They've evolved past what happened at the movie theater. They don't even make it halfway through the movies anymore, and this time Steve has Nancy halfway in his lap, hands bracing her face, kissing her slow and intimate. Jonathan almost feels like he's watching something too personal. Steve has big hands, and you can really tell when he grips her thigh and hikes it up. The movie is flat with dialogue, so their kissing sounds even louder - but Nancy makes grabby hands Jonathan’s way, and tears him from his thoughts. He hesitates, and she says " _Come here-"_ so he does. The couch creaks.

There's deja-vu to last week, in Steve's pool, when they fooled around like this in the deep end. Nancy twists back and kisses him, and Steve creeps his hand up Nancy's shirt, and there's that feeling again. Where there's magma in his stomach and his arms raise with goosebumps. Jonathan focuses on kissing her. It’s familiar, safe territory. Nancy pulls away when Steve easily unclips her bra, and bends to kiss down her chest. 

"I'm kind of upset that you can do that better than me," Jonathan says. 

Steve laughs, and sucks a hard kiss above Nancy's breast, "Dude I have a trick I can totally teach you." 

"Can we not talk about this right now?" Nancy sighs, leaning a hand back around to get Jonathan closer. Steve hums, and starts to undo her shorts. 

They should probably address this soon, Steve and Jonathan. The fact that they keep losing clothes and getting off in the same room - let alone  _watching,_ most of the time - and neither of them seem to question it.  Jonathan worries that he enjoys it too much. But Steve seems to be having a good time, so Jonathan won’t be the one to upset the apple cart.

He nudges Steve’s hand away and reaches down Nancy's underwear, and gets to watch her moan into Steve's mouth instead. 

God, she’s beautiful. Jonathan is in a constant state of falling in love with her, like it never ends. 

She digs her nails into Steve’s hair, and the noise he makes leaves Jonathan feeling strange. Steve isn't always vocal, only sometimes, when Nancy pulls on his hair and bites at his tongue. But he makes these rumbly noises, and they rattle you to your core.

Nancy's shorts get tossed because they're in the way, and Steve looses his shirt because Nancy complains until he does. It almost feels dangerous; Jonathan knows nobody is going to walk through that front door, but he's paranoid anyways. That doesn't stop him from fingering Nancy open from behind, or dragging his lips down her neck, or rubbing his free hand down her shoulder when she gets goosebumps from it all. She's barely holding her own weight in Steve's lap, supported by his arms completely, and it's a new side of Nancy that's so addictive. Jonathan has never gotten her so boneless and utterly dumbstruck-silent on his own, so, at least Steve's good for something.

(Just kidding.)

Jonathan has no idea what Steve is doing, but it must be great, because the sound of their kisses are downright lewd. Jonathan tips his head just to catch a glimpse, and it's way hotter than it should be. Nancy tries to pull away and kiss Jonathan too; it's too much of a strain on her neck, so he gently kisses the side of her throat in a wordless  _its okay._

The T.V. flickers white light over them, every so often. It's hot and it's messy, and Jonathan's bangs are sticking to his forehead, but it's an adrenaline rush, amid everything else; like the teenage passion in cheesy romance novels that Jonathan used to make fun of. They work well, the three of them. He can't see Steve's eyes in the dark, but Jonathan does jerk when he feels a finger press in against his own, and Nancy shouts, nails digging crescents into Steve's bare shoulders. 

Later she sits between them, head lolled on Jonathan's shoulder, and jerks them both off with a bottle of lotion and lazy strokes. 

And then they bust open a few beers and fall asleep on the couch. 

 

 No big deal. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for any mistakes ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


End file.
